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Hull, Tuesday, September 18, 2001 - Some 115 school crossing guards in the new City of Gatineau, chose to be represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) at a union allegiance vote held by the Ministry of Labour. 79% of the guards said yes to CUPE. Up until todays poll, only the Buckingham school crossing guards were unionized.

Richard Gadbois, the union representative, expressed his pleasure over the results. From the very beginning of this campaign, we felt that there was a real wish for unionization on the part of those workers who are employed as school crossing guards, he indicated. With the creation of Metro Gatineau, the guards wanted to ensure that they would have their say and be able to negotiate their working conditions, he explained.

In Quebec, the majority of school crossing guards are members of CUPE, which, in addition, represents 70% of all municipal employees. In addition to the municipal sector, CUPE is present in 10 other sectors of activity in Quebec, among others, health and social services, education, urban and air transportation, and communications. With a total of almost 100,000 members in Quebec, it is the largest union affiliated with the QFL.

The new City of Gatineau came into being when the cities of Aylmer, Buckingham, Gatineau, Hull, and Masson-Angers were amalgamated. Next January 1, it will become the fifth largest city in Quebec with 226,000 inhabitants.

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SOURCE: CANADIANUNIONOFPUBLICEMPLOYEES (QFL)

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The full text of this news release can be found on the web site scfp.qc.ca